Dinosaur Eggs

As part of my dinosaur theme, I like to set up a “Dinosaur Dig”. One of the treasures my Mini-Paleontologists dig for are fossils. These easy homemade Dinosaur Eggs are a great way for your superheroes to use their problem solving skills to crack them open and discover what’s inside and how to get it out.

Here’s what you need to get started:

Cornstarch

Sand (I used some sand we got from the beach as well as play sand from Home Depot)

Cream of Tartar

Water

Measuring cups and spoons

Old Pot (or one you don’t mind getting scratched up from the sand)

Some dinosaurs (or other small animal figures-I got mine from the dollar store)

Add 1 cup of sand, 1/2 cup of cornstarch and 1/2 tsp of Cream of Tartar to an old pot. I say an old pot in case you are worried about it getting scratched from the sand.

Add 1/2 cup of water and mix over medium-low heat. It will be watery at first but will slowly thicken into a dough.

Once the dough has formed, place it on a cutting board to cool a bit.

I used dinosaur skulls and small dinosaurs for my eggs.

Place a dinosaur or skull into the chunk of dough and shape into an egg.

Let it dry overnight. I put ours out in the sun and they were rock hard the next morning.

Give your kids the tools to break it open. Or hide them in a sand box. Or make it part of a dinosaur dig!

The superheroes used a knife and their hands to crack the eggs open.

They used brushes and magnifying glasses to examine the dinosaurs and clean them off.

Science Behind the Activity:

This is an excellent way to develop fine motor skills as well as enhance problem solving skills. The superheroes tried many different ways to get the eggs open, using their hands and tools. Once they discovered the skulls, I gave them a chart to try to identify which skull belonged to which dinosaur.